Masquerade
by ErokoTan
Summary: It was always years of planning – right from the moment he started. He may have gotten deeper then he planned, but he wasn't going to back down from his mission.
1. Chapter 1: Masquerade

_Prompt: "What does Jazz hide behind his visor? What if he were really half blind without it or really __**hiding**__ who he __**really is**__?"_

_Based in season 2 of G1._

_Summary: It was always years of planning – right from the moment he started. He may have gotten deeper then he planned, but he wasn't going to back down from his mission. _

_A/N: Units of time reference - _/wiki/Units_of_time. Probably will be a oneshot or miniseries while I work on other things.

_Warnings: Rated T for hinted mech/mech, violence and perhaps a little death. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing – Transformers and all of its characters belongs to Hasbro._

Masquerade

By: SilverShadow140/Eroko

.com

Sunday, September-25-11

"_My reflection is distorted and I cannot recognize my face."_

_-FictionJunction, "Akatsuki no Kuruma"_

Always, always, _always_.

Everything was always too close – always too risky, but he'd _always_ pull it off. They could ask the impossible and it would be done. But why? This question echoed in the head of the Autobot tactician like an illness, setting his processor to unease. Why though? Prowl only felt that deep unease when it was such a critical mission like now; and it wasn't as if the failure would affect the whole Autobot faction. With narrowed optics, he looked over his plan for the fifth time, the noise of the rec room like a gentle buzz in comparison to his thoughts.

It was only when he sent Jazz away that his CPU worked overtime. At first he had wondered if it was mild anxiety because of what had begun between the two of them; after all it was common knowledge that in the past few orns, they had started seeing each other, though they hadn't really amounted to much – mostly going to a few Earth events with each other and working slowly from there, but it made both of them happy… or Prowl at least, though the second in command was almost positive that Jazz also enjoyed their time together, even if it was scarce that they could afford the time while fighting the Decepticons. Even still, he had seen Ratchet about relationship stress and the medic had assured him that he would be fine. But even with reassurance, Prowl found himself at an unease.

Optics glancing around the room, the Datsun noticed the twins up to their usual pranks, though the room was somewhat tame at the moment. With the increase of Decepticon activity lately, most were on edge and awaiting the tidings that Jazz would be bringing. And why did that bother him so much? It was as if everything lately were riding on the information the Jazz could bring in. Sure usually Mirage would also be out there helping, along with Hound and Bumblebee, but they were stuck in med bay along with Powerglide and Skyfire.

An inward grimace almost slipped to his visible expression, but rather than letting it show and linger on the growing worry, Prowl got to his feet and began down the hall that led to the med bay to check on the status of the others. Sure, Ratchet wouldn't be too pleased, but it was his job as second in command to make sure things were running smoothly, even if he wanted to avoid the medic's rage (because it secretly scared him as much as it scared the others).

Entering the Med bay, the very first thing that greeted him was Ratchet yelling over at Preceptor to stop piddling around and to help the white and red mech move Hound to a different table. This event immediately made Prowl re-think his decision to visit and he promptly turned on his heel, leaving the raging head medic to his work. So with nothing better to do he opted to go check with Optimus and Teletraan I to see if they could find out any new information about the sudden Decepticon movements.

But there was something wrong – this much he could tell just from things he picked up here and there. Like how fidgety Red Alert seemed as he arrived just outside the command room. On a usual day, Red Alert was paranoid – Prowl knew this, but he seemed more fidgety, more… worried. With a slight turn of his head, he stopped by the security bot. "Red Alert, report." The black and white mech sounded strict, worried maybe, but he kept whatever suspicion he felt to himself as Red began blabbering.

"Jazz is back, but… it doesn't feel right. I know that he's one of us, but it's as if something _bad_ happened. Either way, he said he needed to speak with Optimus a moment alone about the Decepticon threat bu—" As if answering both of their inner doubt, there was the sound of something breaking then a crash like something fell, making both bots jump for a moment.

But only a moment – then Prowl's CPU went into high gear, throwing orders at the startled red mech. "Go get Ironhide, Inferno and the twins, then come to the command center immediately. I'll investigate and radio if we need a medic. Go!" And with no other words, Red Alert turned and ran for the rec room, leaving Prowl to turn, bringing his gun out of subspace and leaning against the wall to peer around the corner and into the room.

But the sight was enough to make the Autobot stop in his tracks, optics blazing with disbelief. There stood Jazz, a long smirk across his face with Optimus Prime at his feet, a deep wound in his chest leaking energon. His spark ached at the sight, both because of the harsh injury of his leader and his new partner having done something so… traitorous.

Taking a moment to push air through his filters, he stepped out, the Special Operations bot hesitating at his sudden appearance, the smirk falling to a grimace. He pulled his own weapon out from subspace, and circled, Prowl standing his ground. He felt torn to pull the trigger and shoot Jazz, but at the same time the slight feelings there kept him from doing so.

_What if there's a reason._

The thought ran through his processor, causing his vocaliser to blurt a single question. "_Why?_" The Porsche slowed his movements, a dark, almost _sad_ smile across his face. "'Cause it's who I am, Prowler." And in his words there was truth – sincerity, but also malice and desolation. Like this _was_ the path he had chosen; the path that Prowl had failed to see Jazz planning. But the Autobot traitor carried on, a bitter tone in his voice as running steps could be heard in the hallways approaching their location. "It's _always_ been me Prowler – you just didn' notice. But that was the whole point of us y'know – so you wouldn't figure me out." He stopped his movements completely as Inferno, Ironhide and the twins arrived, all of them stopping in horror at the sight of Optimus being downed – and probably dying, but they couldn't do much at the moment – Jazz was still the one in control of the situation.

But rather than acting to escape or hold the Autobot leader hostage, he reached up to the red insignia and scratched away the top layer of paint, revealing the deep purple Decepticon symbol. "I got too into this though. Y'know Prowler, I really did—I... I just can't change this though." And a bitter-sweet smile crossed his facial plated, finally reaching up to his visor and pulling it off to discard it to the harsh orange floor of the Ark. Whereas what had first been thought to be blue optics were actually a deep burning crimson. "It was fun while it lasted Prowler." And with an inward horror, Jazz finally made his move – but not one to shoot the awestruck autobots, but one to transform to his alt mode and screech towards the crowd that had accumulated.

Prowl wanted to try to stop his partner – he really did, but could he? No, probably not – so he rushed to Optimus, dodging to the side as the Porsche approached him at top speed, leaving the others to attempt to catch Jazz while he attempted to give his leader mild first aid, barking an order at Ratchet through his comm. There was a ruckus behind him as Ironhide yelled at Sunstreaker to attempt to catch the fleeing traitor, and a few shots from their weapons. But the tactician began blocking those noises out; his spark wrenched with both anger and sorrow when he thought of the other mech.

And again there were footsteps, and more shouts as Ratchet came barreling into the room with Wheeljack and Perceptor, going to Optimus' side, relieving Prowl from the truck's side so they could attend to the injury. Turning, Prowl faced Ironhide who stalked towards him, looking more than slightly mad, his expression twisted in a deep grimace. "You gonna tell me what happened. No leavin' nothin' out." The red van demanded this harshly, evidently so mad as to forget his rank, but Prowl would excuse the mistake considering the circumstance.

"I… was fooled." The black and white was a little hesitant, considering that it had been someone so _close_ to him to have betrayed them, but what else could he say? That he had seen this coming? That was too far from the truth. But watching Ironhide's expression told Prowl that the bot wasn't satisfied with just that – he went to bark more when Ratchet cut the red van off sharply. "Stop your barking and give me a hand here, Ironhide. Prime will be alright given enough time, but I need to move him, stat."

And with a flurry of movement and orders, everyone was moving around, helping the medic move their leader out to the med bay, and leaving Prowl standing there with thoughts flying through his CPU. But there was only one that stood out from the other ones.

_Why?_


	2. Chapter 2: Torment

**A/N: Okay, I decided to do a chapter 2 let's see how things roll, mm'kay?**

Masquerade

Chapter 2: Torment

We fear how we feel inside.

- EMINEM, Mockingbird

_"You_ failed!"

"Y-yes, I—"

_"You _failed the most critical mission in my plans you _fool_!"

"Please forgive me Lor—"

"Silence you insolent fool! I had trusted you with this task because _you_ were the only one able to pull it off and you failed! All of those vorns to prepare for this and you didn't even _kill_ an Autobot!" The voice was none other than Megatron's as he practically roared in his rage, his harsh voice echoing through the halls of the _Nemesis_. Before the Decepticon leader there was kneeled the Autobot traitor himself, spluttering at Megatron's verbal assaults.

It took a moment for the special operations bot to regain his ability to speak, his red optics glued to Megatron's feet in attempt to avoid the harsh gaze of his leader. "You see, Lord Megatron, I was savin' Prime for you. I-It's only fitting that the mighty Megatron snuff out the 'bots last hope." Jazz watched as a silence overtook the chamber and Megatron's feet shifted as if the big silver Decepticon considered this.

Finally, after what appeared to be a breem, Megatron gave a scoff. "It is fitting indeed," The words brought a small flash of relief over the Porsche's CPU as he visibly relaxed his frame. "_But_, it makes me wonder if you've gotten soft after spending all of that time with those pathetic Autobots." Jazz glanced up, shock evident in his body language as a large, dark grin passed over Megatron's facial features. "So I want _you_ to go and prove otherwise. Kill the Autobot second in command and things should definitely prove well for your loyalty and for the Decepticon cause."

"Hey are you even listening?"

Ironhide's voice broke through the scenarios the Datsun's processor was running through, bringing the blue optics up from the data pad to the frown covering the Van's facial plating, the Autobot SIC a little dazed. I didn't catch it, no. Prowl admitted, his attention darting to the data pad for a nanosecond as he set it down, only for him to return his attention back to the troubled mech. "Besides the obvious, is something wrong? You seem a lot more agitated than usual in this circumstance."

Giving a grumble, Ironhide nodded sharply, crossing his arms and tilting his chin so it seemed like he was glowering downward to the higher ranked officer. "Well yeah. Here we are makin' all these plans to stop the Decepticons and yet we haven't even started makin' plans about how we're gonna deal with that traitor; if ye ask me he deserves the scrap pile – I mean look what he did to Optimus."

Sudden irritation began blooming in Prowl's processor at Ironhide's words; despite all the necessity for it that was exactly what the Datsun was trying to avoid.

_Jazz._

Traitor. But it unexpectedly hurt the tactician to think of the Porsche like that, especially considering how close they had gotten. With Jazz, Prowl had been able to open up; to _express_ himself as something other than the cold, calculating tactician. Prowl had been able to _live_ rather than just the mundane task of surviving.

A sudden loud cracking noise reached his audios and he looked down to his hand which had shattered the data pad in reflex to thoughts. With a soft sigh passing through his intakes, he set down the now useless data pad, turning his attention back to Ironhide, a grimace spread across his features. "I would presume it best to leave _that_ matter undecided until Optimus is up and functional again." And Ironhide opened his mouth to retort, but Prowl was one step ahead of him, cutting him off before he can get started. "We leave it to Optimus. Any complaints and I'll have Ratchet take out your vocalizer."

Satisfied that the red van had been put in his place, the Autobot SIC got to his feet, and was about to pick up and discard the data pad when Bluestreak came running in, blue optics wide with shock. The sharpshooter was rambling loudly as he stopped in front of the two surprised mechs, making it impossible to make out what the young Autobot was saying. With a worried frown and a heavy ache in his processor, Prowl raised his voice, cutting the rambling mech off. "Bluestreak, report." His tone, albeit a little harsh, broke Bluestreak from his trance of anxious babbling long enough for him to bring air into his intakes and start over.

"I—I, well, when I was on duty I was at my post like told And, oh, Primus! _He_ snuck up on me! Out of nowhere too; had he wanted to k-kill me then he could have. B—"

_"He_ as in that traitor?" Ironhide held a nasty glare across his facial features. "And you didn't fight him or nothin'? Ye just came back and reported like a frightened sparklin'?"

In a subconscious act that he had picked up from Sparkplug, Prowl rubbed his temples, as he listened to Ironhide rage for a few moments longer. After securely making sure his temper wouldn't snap, the tactician stepped in, cutting off one of Ironhide's stories of what he would have done back on Cybertron. "Bluestreak, continue; what did he do after he snuck up on you?"

Giving a small, slightly timid glance to Ironhide, whom looked as pleased as Megatron would after reading fan fiction, Bluestreak continued. "Well, he could have killed me, but he didn't. Instead he just gave me something to pass onto you a message." And he brought a data pad out from sub space, holding it out to the tactician.

Taking it, Prowl glanced to the other two mechs, who were looking at him apprehensively. Opting that reading the message would be best done in privacy, he dismissed the two and turned to leave the rec room, heading straight for his quarters.

The Autobot SIC didn't speak to anyone he passed in the halls, only stopping briefly outside his quarters to punch in the access code and sliding into the room even before the door was fully open. For a moment, he just stood there, optics taking in the plain sight of just the berth and the desk until he heard the hydraulic hiss of the door closing behind him. In that instant, his gaze dropped to the data pad, reading the message quickly.

Originally, he hadn't been sure what to think or suspect; knowing Jazz it could have been anything. He shook that thought out of his processor; he didn't really know Jazz. He was a Decepticon, and had been playing the Autobots from the start or so Prowl tried to convince himself. Truth be told, the Datsun wasn't too sure he knew exactly what to think, but the one thing that he was sure of – that he intended to find out.

Tossing the message onto his desk, Prowl turned and left his quarters, a goal set in mind. Turning to his alt mode, he drove out of the Autobot base, trusting that he knew what he was doing.


	3. Chapter 3: Why

Masquerade

Chapter 3: _Why?_

"Fear was my truth."

- Goo Goo Dolls, "All That You Are"

Those cerulean blue optics; how much had he missed them?

A lot, but he couldn't hesitate now; he needed to do this, otherwise it would be his own spark extinguished. His finger tightened on the trigger, ruby red optics trained on his target. Hesitation seemed to bloom in his CPU, but that was quickly dismissed. For his loyalty, he _had _to do this.

But why? Because he had been a fool? Because he had chosen the wrong side? Because he wanted the _power_ to hold his freedom?

"You don't have to do this." Prowl's voice.

It snapped Jazz back to attention from his inner conflict and to the Datsun who stood in the clearing looking around for any sign that there was another in the area. It would be a lie to say that it didn't make his spark ach a little, knowing what he had to do but the special ops mech intended to push that aside. He never hesitated on a mission and he wouldn't now.

But _no_; that was a lie. His most important mission he had hesitated and failed. Jazz hadn't the nerve to do it, and thus he was where he was now. Hesitating yet again.

His optics catching the gleam of the sun reflecting off of Prowl's now perked door wings, the ex-Autobot watched the black and white mech intensely, like a cougar stalking its prey. It only took a moment for Jazz to realize that Prowl knew he was here, and knowing that there was no sense hiding, the Porsche proceeded forward into the clearing, uncaring of how noisy his approach was.

Prowl turned to Jazz as the mech approached, expression untelling of the thoughts in his CPU or the ache in his spark. He had been expecting an ambush or a surprise attack, but it made a part of him glad to be able to talk to Jazz face to face again. Because like this there was still a chance to bring him back. To save him.

Jazz stopped about ten paces from him, their optics matching gaze. In that moment, there was so much Prowl wanted to ask, to say, but the Autobot SIC knew that he'd have to take things slowly no matter how much he might want to delve into details.

_Only one shot. _

The thought echoed through his CPU, bringing a lance of ice to stab through his spark; though he didn't hesitate, throwing up all of his walls as the inner tactician in him set to work immediately.

"How long? If you're going to kill me then I at least want to know."

The saboteur visibly hesitated, his red optics glancing away for just an instant, and then back to him, the expression in them almost guilty. "Since the start, Prowler… Not even Prime noticed."

Jazz's voice crackled, and the Autobot SIC pressed further. "But _why_ be with them when all they do is destroy? And for the love of Primus, why cover your tracks with _me_?" Now Prowl sounded hurt, almost angry even, but no, that wasn't how it was. He just wanted his Jazz back.

"I… the 'bots are going t' lose 'cause they're not strong, and I… I just don't want… I just want t' have the power to choose my way. Prowler yeh halfta understand that." Jazz was visibly shaking, his optics looking at the ground; gun slacked in his hand and at his side. "… And I never wanted t' get like… _this_ with yeh. I never meant to get this far…. I…"

Finally Prowl understood – he had what he needed to win, and he had full intents on using it. "Jazz, the moment you joined the Decepticons so you could have the power to choose was the moment you stopped choosing. If you have freedom you can choose even in the harshest of situations; things may get hard, but power strips you of everything." The Datsun drew closer to Jazz with a cautious confidence, reaching out a hand to gently take the weapon away from the verbally defeated Porsche. "So tell me Jazz, what do you choose?"

For a moment, silence from both of them. Then a yelp from Prowl as he was taken to the ground, landing harshly on his door wings with a weight on top of him.

Jazz had flung himself at the tactician, arms curled around Prowl tightly as he trembled seemingly in a mix of emotions, coolant spilling from his optics and splattering down onto Prowl's black and white paint. And Prowl's strong arms returned the embrace despite the discomfort, one hand rubbing the saboteur's back in soothing, random patters. "Will yeh forgive me Prowler? Will Prime forgive me? Will _they_ forgive me?" He truly did sound afraid now, like a lost sparkling looking for its way home.

"In time they will… in time."

_Days passed, soon weeks, and during that time, they had both returned to the Autobots, Optimus forgiving, understanding the desperation, and others skeptical, but willing to give it a shot. Jazz, in the meantime, had stayed to carefully watched monitoring duty, and the Decepticons staying rather quiet for some time, though Megatron seemed to be enraged by the loss of his little spy. _

The morning air was fresh and cool against his systems, and he had missed it quite a bit. As the reinstated Autobot third in command watched the sun rise for the first time in weeks, he felt an inner calm he had not felt for some time.  
>Slowly, his life was being rebuilt like the Decepticons had never played in his hand of becoming an Autobot, and all those whom had been angry at his betrayal (namely Ironhide), were starting to simmer down and accept that he was here to stay and willing to help the greater good this time.<p>

"Nice view isn't it?"

A smile cross Jazz's face as he turned slightly, his feet still dangling off the edge of the cliff, to greet Prowl as he approached and sat beside the Porsche. Ever since he had come back, they had both spent more time together – Prowl wanting to get to know the 'real Jazz', and Jazz wanting to give it a sincere shot. Thus far, it had been like nothing had changed, excluding how close to each other that they were.

Jazz leaned his head against Prowl's shoulder, contently humming to himself, Prowl placing an arm around his shoulder and taking off the blue visor that Jazz had donned once again. Looking at him questioningly, the saboteur stopped humming. "Whatcha doin'?"

In response, Prowl merely leaned down and pressed a kiss to Jazz's lips, a chaste smile still lingering as he pulled away. "I just thought that you would've stopped wearing this."

To that Jazz just gave a shrug. "Just felt more natural 'round you guys."

A chuckle came from the tactician. "Well, you can leave it off for now because I want to get to know the 'natural' you…"

And in the light of the sunrise, they spark bonded, to be bound together, for as long as either of them lived.

_**~Owari**_

**_A/N: Tried somethinf different with my ending this time... feed back?_**

**_Thank-you to all those who commented and faved!_**

**_Now a preview for my next upcoming fic..._**

_A smile._

That's all it took to consume him; just a quick little perk at the edges of those full lips and then he was sent away into a bliss he had never known before then. It made his spark feel alight with joy and affection – all those feelings his creator had tried to quash – and he loved it. It felt so right, just being there with that smile. It made all of those dull, monotone days seem that much more colourful, and to him, that was worth so much more than anything...

_**Rated 'T' [Or 'M']**_

_**Transformers G1 Fic**_

_**Northern Star - Coming Soon  
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